On Saturday, November 9, Cantor Azi Schwartz led an evening program in Potsdam, Germany, commemorating the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass. Here is a translation of the article that appeared in the newspaper Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten two days later.
Click here to watch part of the rehearsal for the program.
Spiritual Union
By Klaus Büstrin
Synagogue music with Azi Schwartz at Vocalise
After the candles were lit , the cantor began to sing the El Maleh Rahamim, softly but powerfully. The chorus joined in, creating a gripping antiphonal chant, a burial prayer for the Jews murdered in the Holocaust. A deep and thoughtful silence accompanied the singing on November 9, on the evening of commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the Kristallnacht pogrom. Azi Schwartz, Cantor and Music Director of the Park Avenue Synagogue in New York, and the RIAS Chamber Choir sang on Saturday under the direction of Ud Joffe. The program was 19th- and 20th-century synagogue music, arranged for the most part by the Jerusalem conductor and composer Raymond Goldstein.
The concert, which was organized in conjunction with the “Vocalise” festival, made abundantly clear that this music – which belongs both to Jewish life and to our [German] culture – has great spiritual power. Traditional Jewish worship featured cantorial singing and congregational responses. The 19th century reformers brought choral music – first with men’s and later with mixed choirs – into the synagogues of Germany and Central Europe. Until the 1930s, synagogue choral music flourished. Louis Lewandowski, cantor at the New Synagogue Berlin, reformed synagogue music. His compositions shaped a musical tradition that was painfully interrupted by National Socialism.
Saturday’s program included a Lewandowski setting of a prayer that is sung on Yom Kippur. The program, mostly recitatives sung in Hebrew, included biblical texts and musical settings of psalms and prayers. Azi Schwartz, the RIAS Chamber Choir and Ud Joffe took the listener on a “prayer journey” in which the lyrics and music formed a spiritual union. From the Kiev Cantor Leib Glantz there was the Sh’ma Yisrael, considered the basic creed of the Jewish faith, and repeated by worshippers several times a day: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.” From the myriad of Sabbath prayers that exist, the program included Mimkom’kha, composed by Zavel Zilberts, who was born in Lodz: “Throughout Your universe reveal Yourself, our King, and reign over us, for we await You.” Y’hi Ratzon (Let It Be Your Will ) by David Kussevitsky was also among the most impressive Sabbath prayers.
Azi Schwartz was the focus of the concert; as cantor, he had the greatest musical part. The cantor brought great passion and expression to the singing of synagogue music that breathes the spirit of the late Romantic period, but which also incorporates the harmony and rhythms of Eastern Europe. His bright and sturdy tenor showcased not only his voice but also but also the lyrics. Through his singing, the listener became wrapped up in the worship, whether lamentation or joy. The RIAS Chamber Choir, which is among the world's finest ensembles of its kind, was a wonderful counterpart to the cantor. The chorus sang with exquisite unity, creative distinction, dynamic control and fine declamation. Ud Joffe, who has conducted six of the seven concerts of the “Vocalise,” led the singers supremely well and with vigor through the evening.